Movie Review – Force Majeure, 2014

This movie is so fucking funny. I don’t know that everyone will find it as funny as I did, but I really do think this is meant to illicit laugh’s out of the audience more than anything else. And it gets away with feeling like it has a lot of dramatic weight as well by forcing you to ask yourself “In a moment of pure instinct, how would I react?” which makes this story crazy relatable. Every reaction is so nuanced and specific but simultaneously so broad, it makes for a really interesting character study that also works as a morality play that puts you in the hot seat.

I found quite a bit of Kubrick in this move too, which I always love when it’s pulled off successfully. The director isn’t just telling us the story of these characters, he’s telling us the story of these characters in this specific setting. He uses the setting as a character of sorts to bring out aspects of the actual character’s personalities that might otherwise stay hidden beneath the surface. I love the idea that we are not just the sum of our own parts, but the sum of every possible, intricate detail of any given period of our lives, including the relationships we kept during that time, the places we spent our time, and the secrets we kept in the midst of it all.

This is a big recommend for me – I just think it is so uniquely funny while still being extremely thought provoking. And it’s a really well shot film with excellent performances from its leads.